"We've drafted them, and we've pushed them toward the campaign, but we've got no feedback at this point," Lukens said, suggesting that his firm's writers cobbled together the content of the letter from Huntsman's public statements.

The draft mailer contains pieces of Huntsman's still-developing stump speech, including claims that the U.S. is in danger of a "lost decade" if the economy isn't righted. But it also features several sharp-edged attacks on Obama, most notably on his 2010 health care overhaul, which Huntsman differentiates from the health reforms he signed into law in Utah.

Text Size

"President Obama's liberal Big Government agenda is the wrong way to address our problems," the letter states in bold, all caps font.

It similarly swipes at Romney, who is considered the front-runner in the race, over the health care overhaul he signed into law as governor of Massachusetts.

"The 'government-knows-best' approach is favored by President Obama (and attempted in states like Massachusetts), and it is destined for failure," asserts the letter.

That type of attack rhetoric has been missing so far from Huntsman's public remarks. The former ambassador has shown a reluctance to publicly criticize the president and has instead framed himself as the candidate of civility.

The letter also includes passages that could be interpreted as veiled shots at other Republicans who have - or still are - flirting with entering the race, including former Govs. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas and Sarah Palin of Alaska.

In a sub-section called, "Why Am I Running for President?" the letter answers: "Well, to begin with, I am not looking for attention. I don't have a book to sell you. I'm not looking for a high-paying TV talk show gig when this is done."

Huckabee parlayed his 2008 run for the GOP nomination into a talk show on the Fox News Channel, while Palin has been criticized for fanning the flames of speculation over a possible presidential run in order to maintain her profile and marketability as a speaker, author and television commentator.

The letter also notes that Huntsman's family is supportive, unlike some other prospective presidential candidates whose families have been troubled by the prospect of a presidential run.

The letter, which includes an ABC News headline: "Obama's campaign manager fears Jon Huntsman the MOST in 2012," implores potential donors to give by citing predictions that Obama could raise $1 billion for his reelection campaign.

Lukens said his firm has yet to be paid for any of their work for Huntsman, and said the details of his contract with the campaign are confidential.

Correction: An earlier version of this story contained an incorrect first name for Walter Lukens, the founder of The Lukens Company. The version above has been corrected.

What an odd article. Your title implies that the mailer is already out. Then, as you read the article, it states that the Huntsman people not only didn't approve of it yet, they didn't write any of it.

Sounds like a space filler thus far but you suckered me into reading it by the headline. What's next?

KILLER HURRICANE HEADED TO LOS ANGELES! And as you read on it states, "People who know weather could not confirm the possibility of a hurricane headed to Los Angeles in the next 10 years. One unnamed source stated, 'It most likely will be some rain over the decade'"

Goes to show the only way to retain Huntsmans loyalty is with a paycheck and a ticket to the country he loves...CHINA.

Wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him.

THE "H" IN HUNTSMAN STANDS FOR.. HYPOCRITE !

Dear Mr. President,

I am most grateful for the graciousness and kindness you have shown me and my family - particularly your confidence in my ability to represent you in China. Mary Kaye and I will begin our journey tomorrow - leaving behind a state we love - but also anticipating an extraordinary experience in Beijing. You are a remarkable leader - and it has been a great honor getting to know you. Jon

Huntsman should just end the charade of a non-candidacy and annouce already. His constant teasing is boring the crap out of me already. He has zero chance of winning the republican nomination. He's a Rino.

Democrats are astounding hypocrites. The President called for civility and he then turns around and attacks viciously. The DNC chairman has gone beyond the pale many times in the last few weeks since she was chosen. I expect there will be many "sharply worded" articles pointing out the destruction of the US by Obama and his pals.

Another "Hit piece" article by the liberal hacks at Politico. They want to drive up Huntsman's negatives before he gets in the race. The facts are that no such memo has been issued by Huntsman - but some firm is preparing drafts. If I was Huntsman, I certainly wouldn't work with this firm - since they obviously can't keep anything confidential.

The sad thing about Huntsman, who is polling at about 0% across the board, is that he is getting into this race because the left and the media (but I repeat myself) are building him up and pushing him.

I've had the experience of having agencies drafting appeals for my clients. If they're only working from public utterances, they will tend to overshoot the mark. They don't know how to capture voice and tone, absent a good background briefing. In addition, the initial drafting is not usually done by the more experienced staffers, although I don't know what the case is here. More junior staffers don't tend to see the nuance or have enough experience to know when to rein it in. They aso try too hard to impress and can overdo it in the process. Bottom line: Any candidate or potential candidate -- liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat --could be caught in this kind of situation if any kind of a fundraising or policy draft becomes public before it is ready for print or air. To draw any conclusions from drafts of materials is simply unfair and sophomoric. This was a cheap shot and I'm not a Huntsman supporter. I wouldn't want to see this happen to the Obama campaign either.

Huntsman has supported Obamacare, Cap ad Trade and been an outspoken supporter of Obama which gained him the ambasadorship to China.

Not surprisingly he is the choice of Obama supporters to run for the Republican Party. He has virtulally no support outside of the liberal media which would certainly turn on him if we were foolish enough to nominate him. This is a dream for Democrats and a nightmare for the country if this sham candidacy succeeds.

Anyone being honest about the state of the country right now would HAVE to attack Obama. He's been a complete and total failure. The only thing his enablers can point to with pride is the assasination of Bin Laden, which was a Bush policy.

Obama took a bad economy and made it worse. He took a car that was off the road and into the ditch, and he pushed it deep into the swamp. His economy has been a failure, his foreign policy has been a failure and his domestic policy has been a failure.

His enablers are now reduced to making the so-called "argument" that "Yes, things are terrible right now, but without our savior Obama, they would have been WORSE!" And what is the factual basis for this fantasy? Why, there is none. Don't bother liberals with facts. It just confuses them.

hE IS A JOKE. HE IS A FREE TRADING..OPEN BORDERS...MEDICARE KILLING MORMAN.......WHO COULD NOT GET ELECTED IN UTAH...AGAIN. SEN. BENNET JUST GOT THROWN OUT BY THE FOLKS OF UTAH..SICK OF THE MORMA CHURCH'S PASSION FOR OPEN BORDERS AND CHEAP LABOR....AND RECRUITS FOR THE CHURCH.......AND SEN. HATCH WILL BE DEFEATED BY REP. JASON CHAVEFF...BY A BIG MARGIN.

UTAH HAS HAD IT WITH THESE ECONOMIC FOOLS.

SO HAS THE USA. PAWLENTY..BACHMANN...ROMNEY..SANTORIUM..CAIN...JOHNSON.....ARE ALL JOKES. NONE CAN BE ELECTED. NONE OF THEM

PAUL RYAN PUT ANOTHER ALBATROSS AROUND THEIR FREE TRADING...JOB OUTSORCING...LOVING ON CHNA HEARTS...................

WHILE FREE TRADE HAS SHIPPED MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF JOBS OUT OF THE USA...WHILE NAFTA AND CAFTA...EUROAFTA................HAS DESTROYED THE RICHEST NATION IN THE WORLD.....IN 18 YEARS........

THEY GET UP AND PROMISE TO SIGN THREE MORE...ONE OF THEM..WITH COLUMBIA...WE ALREADY GIVE THEM FOREIGN AIDE.........WE OWE THEM 4 BILLION IN TRADE DEPT NOW.......AND THEY HAVE ENOUGH CASH TO BE BUYING OUR DEBT.......

WHO IN GOD;'S NAME WOULD VOTE FOR THESE FOOLS? THEIR OWN MOTHERS...WOULD NOT. SHE NEEDS HER MEDICARE.

NEWT.....STILL STANDING. HE CALLED OUT RYAN. THAT WILL BE A PLUS LATER ON. SARAH..WILEY...IF SHE MOVES TOO CLOSE TO RYAN......SHE IS GONE. IF SHE ...KEEPS HER MOUTH SHUT............BECAUSE i DON'T THINK SHE WOULD CUT HERE.........IT IS NOT A CAUSE OF OUR DEBT....AND EVERY AMERICAN INVESTS IN IT........

DEMOCRATS.............GOVERN FOR MEXICO. OTHER LATINOS. CBC, MUSLIMS. GLBT MEMBERS . NO ONE ELSE NEED APPLY. AND THEY LIKE THOSE WARS TOOOOOOOOOO.

HUNTSMAN.......ISUPPORTIG RYANCARE....BIG TIME.. SWO ARE THE OTHER RIGHT WING SOCIAL ENGINEERS.......THAT THE RNC......IS TRYING TO RUN FOR PRESIDNT.....BUT NO ONE WILL LISTEN TO THEM. NO ONE LIKES THEM. OR AGREES WITH THEM... WE HAD 8 YEARS OF THEM...........NO MORE.

When you read an article like this and see that Politico is slamming Huntsman for some draft letter that neither he nor anyone on his staff has even seen yet - do you start to feel a little bit of the distrust that all of us on the right have for the mainstream media?

Do you begin to see the extreme bias that we're always complaining about?

Do you begin to wonder what other stories that you see in the mainstream media are more propaganda than news?

Huntsman's state has condone polygamy since the day it entered the union, due to the power and influence the Mormon church has in Utah. I wonder how Huntsman will deal with that when he is questioned about his beliefs on and support for 'traditional marriage'.